She Does it Again!

The incomparable Meryl Streep does it again in her latest movie, Ricki and the Flash. As I watched the film, I kept silently hoping that it would not end anytime soon. However when it was over, I felt that this family tale had been a fulfilling slice of life. It was worth the time and money.

Ricki (Meryl Streep) is a rock singer with her own band called The Flash. She lives in California and is moving right along with her life where she is a cashier by day and a performer by night. She gets a call from her ex-husband and hesitates to take the call because she knows that it will require some level of responsibility. She now has three adult children that she left behind when they were small.

Her former husband, Pete (Kevin Kline) informs her that their daughter is quite depressed over the break-up of her marriage. Ricki reluctantly flies back to Indianapolis to see if she can help her daughter, who is played by Meryl Streep’s real daughter (Mamie Gummer). She is quite convincing in her role.

Fortunately, Pete’s second wife is on a trip to see about her father and it gives Ricki, Pete and daughter, Julie, time to bond. Ricki is also reunited with her two adult sons and the meeting in a restaurant is awkward. When Pete’s wife (Audra McDonald) does return, she and Ricki have a light confrontation.

Ricki returns to her life in California after she sees some positive changes in her daughter. She falls back into her lifestyle but has heavy guilt feelings about being a mother who has abandoned her children. Yet, her friends are supportive and she begins to accept who she is and has become after making that choice.

This movie made me laugh at times and at other times, I wanted to cry. We feel Ricki’s pain as she struggles through her own inner turmoil. This is a rare look into the emotions felt by women who do walk away from their children for whatever reasons. She mentioned that men leave their kids all the time, but women are never forgiven for doing so.

Meryl Streep sings, plays guitars and looks the part of the hippie-type. The two worlds of the gated community and the free-spirit rocker do collide. Her love interest,Greg (Rick Springfield) helps her balance her inner emotions and the acceptance of her current lifestyle. They return to Indy together for her son’s wedding and Ricki gives them the only thing that she has- her music. She flips the switch as she draws them into her world by helping them to lighten up, relax and enjoy the event.

Meryl Streep is a true medium who is amazingly able to allow the artist’s ideas to roll through her making any writer smile and say, “Yes.That’s just what I had in mind!” This is a must-see movie. It will put the icing on your summer cake!